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Three Ivy Tech Kokomo Region students honored with Dr. Pam Lewis Award

Last Updated on May 8, 2015 by cassnetwork

KOKOMO, Ind. — Three Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo Region students were honored with the Dr. Pam Lewis Award for Academic Excellence at the region’s annual Honors Day ceremony Thursday, May 7, at the Kokomo Event & Conference Center. They will be recognized during Saturday’s commencement ceremony.

Alisha Boyd of Logansport, who is receiving her Associate of Science degree in Criminal Justice; Mimi Ford of Kokomo, who is receiving her Associate of Science degree in Paralegal Studies; and Parker McAdams of Peru, who is receiving his Associate of Science in General Studies, were selected for the award named in honor of a long-time Ivy Tech Kokomo Region educator and administrator.  Award winners are selected based on earning the highest cumulative grade-point average in their class, as well as leadership, community service and school involvement. All three earned perfect 4.0 GPAs and have excelled in many other ways.

Alisha Boyd earned her 4.0 on the way to an associate degree in Criminal Justice. Boyd was inspired to pursue her own education while helping her daughter apply to Ivy Tech and she has overcome many personal, medical and logistical challenges to meet this goal. She has served as an officer with Stars and Stripes, the Criminal Justice Association, and Phi Theta Kappa, running a very successful fund drive to benefit the military scholarship and a book drive that doubled the library at the Cass County Jail. She plans to pursue her bachelor’s degree at Trine University before attending law school with the goal of becoming a civil rights/constitutional law attorney.

On her way to earning her associate degree in Paralegal Studies as the program’s outstanding graduate, Mimi Ford moved from a shy and timid student to become a recognized leader and mentor to her peers. She helped organize Legalese, a new organization for Paralegal students and others interested in the law, and served as its first president. Her degree represents a step toward a long-delayed goal. Now that her son is an adult setting off on his own journey, she will be pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Indiana University Kokomo on her way to a law degree and fulfilling that dream of a career defending the innocent as a trial attorney.

As he worked toward his associate degree in General Studies, Parker McAdams consistently impressed faculty members with his exceptional abilities to effectively listen and process and integrate information. Along with demonstrating a great deal of focus throughout his Ivy Tech career, McAdams stepped up as a student assistant to help an instructor manage the technological challenges of modern instruction. As founder of the Gamer’s Club at the Logansport Campus, he showed his interest in gaming goes beyond winning to the fellowship and connection with others that the gaming brings about. McAdams is planning to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Materials Engineering at Purdue University.

Cass County Online